The floating, storage and regasification unit (Fsru) may head out to Greece and moor there for about a year until the LNG terminal in Cyprus is completed, reports said on Tuesday.

Citing sources, news outlet Stockwatch said the government is leaning towards the port of Alexandroupolis, Greece, as the destination for the Fsru vessel.

The ship would remain there for about a year, until works at the LNG terminal at Vasilikos are completed and the facility goes operational.

Earlier, the energy minister had indicated that the LNG facility at Vasilikos might be ready by the end of 2025.

The Fsru ship, dubbed Prometheas, is currently docked in Singapore. It had left Shanghai on December 14.

The vessel had been cleared to set sail after getting certified as a single-voyage LNG carrier.

But it additionally needs to be certified as a storage and re-gasification unit. To do that, it must dock at an operational terminal to be tested. Since the terminal at Vasiliko is incomplete, the ship will have to dock elsewhere – not in Cyprus.

Earlier, the Cyprus Mail was told that possible destinations for the Fsru included Greece, Italy or Egypt.

Now reports say that the port of Alexandroupolis in northeastern Greece may be the likely destination.

The government is considering leasing the vessel until such time as it makes its final trip to Cyprus. For these arrangements, it has to secure permission from both the European Commission and from lenders – the European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

The European Commission had green-lit a €101 million grant for Cyprus’ LNG terminal project.

The entire project consists of the Fsru vessel, the onshore facility at Vasilikos and the jetty.

The Fsru has a weighting of 75 per cent in the whole LNG project; the jetty has a 15 per cent weighting, and the onshore facilities a 10 per cent weighting.

Earlier, in July, the Chinese-led contractor had terminated the LNG contract with Cyprus.

That left Cypriot authorities scrambling to find new subcontractors to finish incomplete works at the onshore facilities and the jetty, while also trying to get the Chinese to release the Fsru from Shanghai.